Alice in the Land of Steam

Is Chapter 115 a story from long ago?
At the end of the herb garden, there was a hill covered with green grass, with small yellow and pink flowers blooming in between. It was like a colorful flower carpet. A majestic oak tree stood among the auras of magical elements, and under the dense shade of the tree stood an old and thin figure.

"Madam Tree!"

Xie Mi waved from afar, and his energetic voice echoed in the green torrent of the wilderness.

"hehe."

Mrs. Tree was wearing a simple white robe and leaning on a cane with a white feather on the end. She greeted the two young visitors with a kind and gentle smile. Her eyes were as peaceful as when she was young watching the newly hatched birds singing on her branches. Her old face was full of wrinkles left by the years.

She looked no different from an old woman in the city or the countryside. The only thing that could reveal her unusual identity was that at the hem of her white robe, what was revealed were not ordinary feet, but thick, forked tree roots that were tightly connected to the ground beneath her feet. Judging from the direction they extended, they seemed to be connected to the oak tree behind her.

In other words, this oak tree is her true self.

The two little girls trotted all the way to the oak tree. As soon as they stopped, they panted. Their anxious look made Mrs. Tree smile: "Don't be so anxious, Xie Mi, I won't run away."

As she spoke, she tapped the ground lightly with the crutch in her hand, and the thick soil layer suddenly broke open. Several dark brown tree roots rose from the ground and intertwined to form the shape of a chair. The workmanship was so exquisite that it seemed like it was made by a skilled woodcarver, and there were a few light-colored mushrooms growing on the surface.

"Sit down and talk."

"You came from Linville City. That must be very far away, right?"

"Would you like to introduce yourself to me, Shaymi?" She chuckled. "Who is this lovely little guest?"

After listening to her, the old man swept his peaceful and gentle eyes across Metien's face, as if he was pitying the cold wind and rain, the difficult trek and arduous pursuit she had experienced on this journey.

"This is it."

Mrs. Shu nodded slightly.

"Wow!"

She smiled, and there was a convincing intimacy in her words that made the two little girls involuntarily do as she said and sit down on the chairs obediently.

Xie Mi woke up as if from a dream, and quickly introduced Metien to Mrs. Tree. The pink-haired girl put down the acorn in her hand and greeted her politely.

There was no lack of nostalgia and aftertaste in her words. When Metien heard this, he suddenly remembered what Shemi had said, and asked curiously: "Mrs. Shu, when you say a long time ago, how long ago is it?"

Mrs. Tree also sat down. She raised her hand to call a few white birds to fly, carrying oak fruits in their beaks, and then distributed the fruits to the little girls. She thought they were very cute as they held the acorns and ate them in small bites like squirrels. She gently stroked Shemi's long green hair, but her eyes fell on Metien's face.

"what!"

"It is common for all life to yearn for the unknown world. Young son of man, I see vision and hope in your eyes, which is exactly what many people lack. A long time ago, I also had a similar desire to leave the land where I took root, follow the shadows of hope, and find the paradise of my dreams. Although at that time, I was just a newborn tree, unable to break away from my roots and grow on my own."

Mrs. Shu thought quietly for a while: "About, more than a thousand years ago?"

"No!" Metien shook his head vigorously and described his true feelings: "The journey was very interesting. I could take the train and see all kinds of beautiful scenery. Then, I came to the Fairy Sleep Inn and saw so many incredible things. I like this feeling very much!"

Metien opened her mouth wide in surprise, and Shemi next to her was so scared that she forgot to continue eating the fruit: she knew that Mrs. Tree was very old, but she never thought she would be this old.

"Haha, there's no need to be so surprised. As long as you live in this world, you just need to get enough sleep, get enough sunlight, ignore things that have nothing to do with you, and walk around the grass a few times every time you wake up... maybe you can live as long as I do."

Mrs. Tree shared her experience with the two little girls, but they looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time, saying that they probably couldn't do it. "That kind of life is really boring." Xie Mi felt very painful when he thought that he would have to sleep in the same place for hundreds or even thousands of years: "Don't you feel bored, Mrs. Tree?"

"Specifically, I don't know what boredom is like." The old man said softly, "Although I have this human body, I am still an oak tree in essence. The emotions I have are only those that a tree can experience."

"Boredom, dullness, hardship, sadness...trees cannot experience these, we just miss them deeply."

Mrs. Tree took her hand away from Xie Mi's head, supported herself with her crutches, and slowly stood up. "Come to think of it, I, with my worm-eaten wooden head, almost forgot the purpose of calling you here."

She turned around and walked to the main body of the oak tree under the curious gaze of the two little girls. The thick and rock-like trunk suddenly opened up a huge tree hole. Mrs. Tree stretched out her withered hand like a thin branch and fumbled in the tree hole for a while. Finally, she found what she wanted, took it in her hand, and returned to the little girls.

Metien and Shemi saw that it was a wooden box about two palms wide, with very simple workmanship, no decoration on the surface, and severe signs of wear and tear, probably because it had gone through a long period of time.

She handed the box to Metien, her smile full of anticipation and relief: "Young son of man, I want to entrust it to you."

"Eh? Me?"

Metien blinked and didn't react.

Xie Mi's focus was more peculiar: "Mrs. Tree, what is this?"

"It's a relic of a friend of mine, no, it's a relic of my teacher."

These words scared Metien, and he almost dropped the wooden box in his hand to the ground. Fortunately, he caught it in time, then held it tightly in his arms, never daring to let go again.

"Haha, don't be so nervous." Mrs. Shu joked, "It's not filled with glass, so it won't break even if it falls to the ground."

Even if she said so.

Metien stammered, "Mrs. Shu, this is such an important thing, I can't accept it--"

"But I hope you can accept it." The old man's gaze was as timeless and meaningful as the oak tree behind him: "Young man, as the old saying goes, never disappoint the expectations of the elders. I think, considering the age difference between us, I can barely call myself an elder, right?"

Don't say it once, a thousand times would be enough.

Metien didn't dare to bear the stigma of "disrespecting elders", so he could only agree reluctantly, and then carefully put away the wooden box, fearing that he would crush it if he used too much force.

"You must be curious, Metien, why I entrusted it to you."

Mrs. Tree raised her head, looking up at the brilliant sunlight shining through the lush treetops, and said with a hint of melancholy, "Would you like to hear me tell a story about the past?"

The story that once floated in the mountains and rivers of Sosen but was gradually forgotten by people in today's era.

Only one old oak tree remembered its appearance, just as it still remembered her warm touch.

"One day a thousand years ago, I was still growing up carefree in the mountains, without any budding emotions, and without any knowledge except instinct."

“It was on that day that I met my teacher.”

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)